Sporting his Romeich Wear shirt, matching shoes and jeans altered to his liking, Romeich Major says his inspiration to design and create clothing comes from within.

He is only 24 years old but raw ambition and creative talent, not age, determined his level of success. Romeich Major, designer and founder of Romeich Wear, has created a name for himself as one of the top male clothing designers in the local industry. His accomplishments are not just based on his popularity in the streets, but also on the support from many influential and popular persons as well as corporate Jamaica.

With October marking his fifth year in the fashion industry, Major says designing was always his passion from a very young age. "I just always loved to look good." Looking good meant designing his own party clothes. "I remember from third and fourth form when certain parties were being held, I always designed and created my own suits."

Happy

Fast forward to a decade or later and Major has turned his passion for 'loving to look good and dressing up' into dressing clients both local and international clients. "Seeing my clients wear my clothes makes me happy and just going all out to satisfy them with my creations is just a tremendous feeling."

Specialising in mostly male clothing, he does custom orders. The clients' clothes, he says, are designed with certain factors taken into consideration. "I have to know the occasion, the person's personality, fashion sense and if they have a colour fabric in mind."

You may wonder what's the significance of a fabric colour as it relates to a style. Well, Major says this is extremely important when designing an outfit. "Not every colour can work effectively with a style. So when I know the colour fabric I can tell if I can achieve a particular look with that colour."

Normally, he is left to design and create the outfit from start but he also welcomes altering outfits. "I can turn old clothes into new and put a spin on things," he quips.

The designer, who has 10 part- time workers, says he designs the clothes and then adds the finishing touches to them once they are sewn. "I don't do the sewing but everything else I do myself. Most of the materials including accessories that I use are sourced from abroad".

Starting his career only creating jackets and shirts, the line has expanded to pretty much any wear suited for all kinds of occasions. "I can design and make anything to wear for any occasion, from a wedding, party, funeral, you name it, I can design it."

Even though he specialises in male clothing, the young designer says he turns away no one and this includes female clients. "While I don't necessarily do female clothing, I will not turn one away if I am approached. As a matter of fact, I have a number of female clients and I have had to do stuff for companies that have both male and female."

One would think that fashion designers are always abreast of what's happening in the fashion world, but strangely, the comical Major says he doesn't focus too much on trends. "I don't go to fashion shows and I don't follow the fashion scene closely because I don't want to necessarily copy. My creations come from within and not necessarily what's considered in style."

To always capitalise profit wise, Major also added a screen printery to accommodate and expand the range of offerings by his clothing line. "The printery is like an upgrade to my clothing line and it is also a form of promotion for my company. I can do all the printing now on the clothes for instance T-shirts."

Busy summer

Romeich Major shows off the bedazzled Romeich Wear logo on his shirt.

Considering himself a fun-loving but straightforward person, the designer and entrepreneur always thought he would have become an architect but his father's persistence for him to pursue accounts and his refusal later led him to the fashion industry after graduating from Ardenne High. "I just always designed and made clothes for fun but when my father wanted me to do accounts instead of architecture I just pulled for my love and it has worked."

From selling his first piece of work to cricketer Marlon Samuels years ago, Major has become designer for many top local artistes, West Indies cricketers, party promoters and corporate companies. "The last two months have been the most hectic for me in recent times. I had to dress 12 artistes for Sumfest, design and create promotional wear for corporate companies and since it is the summer, I had to make a number of outfits for persons attending parties as well as the organisers."

But while it was hard work, Major enjoyed every bit of it because, after all, it is his passion to make 'people look good'.

You can contact Romeich Major at romeich@hotmail.com, romeich/facebook.com or at 870-6560.

1. It is all about the shine for KipRich who performs in a Romeich Wear black outfit complemented by silver accessories.

2. For a casual but more-than-average look, this short sleeved shirt is adorned with cuffs and pockets on both sides of the chest area. Buttons are used as embellishments and silver studs form the Romiech logo.

3. Another Romeich creation.

Only for the bold and confident!